


Til Our Feet Hit the Lands We Shall Call Home

by AceQueenKing



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alien Rituals, F/F, Fluff, Homecoming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 06:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12337014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/pseuds/AceQueenKing
Summary: Tali should be exhausted after Rannoch, after watching her lover taking out a reaper on foot, but she finds herself unable to stop herself from grinning and skipping, nearly running, eyes wide as she looks over the homeland that she never thought she would dare to see. It's hard to imagine, and even though they've fought hard today, and lost good people, all she can think of is that she ishome.Shepard is a little tired – the thin human skin on her eyes is crinkled and dark, and she can see just a hint of a frown tugging down those odd, thin limps. She walks with her anyway though, and she smiles and threads her three fingers through Shepard’s five.





	Til Our Feet Hit the Lands We Shall Call Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [metaphasia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphasia/gifts).



Tali should be exhausted after Rannoch, after watching her lover _taking out a reaper on foot_ , but she finds herself unable to stop herself from grinning and skipping, nearly running, eyes wide as she looks over the homeland that she never thought she would dare to see. It's hard to imagine, and even though they've fought hard today, and lost good people, all she can think of is that she is home.

She meets with the admirals, of course. Duty is duty, and the Quarians hold duty above all else, even the celebration of retaking the home-world. Daro'Xen seems skeptical of the peace and wants to examine their newfound Geth allies, and Hans'Gerrel seems just as doubtful. Even Shala'Raan has her uncertainties, doubts that Tali sees worming into her auntie’s mind in the way she picks at her gloves, her _glz'mt._ Only Zaal seems delighted, at points walking alongside the Geth and giving Tali hopeful reports over how best to apply the Geth armada to help the war effort.

But no one sticks to her side as much as Shepard. Shepard is a little tired – the thin human skin on her eyes is crinkled and dark, and she can see just a hint of a frown tugging down those odd, thin limps. She walks with her anyway though, and she smiles and threads her three fingers through Shepard’s five.

“She's a good soldier, Tali,” Shala she says, talking in Khelish so Shepard won't overhear their conversation. “Bring her back home at the end of all this, if you can. We'll find space for a few human plants for her.”

Tali nods; of course, she's hoping that Shepard will stay, but she knows that its' an awful lot to ask. Three years ago, Shephard had never met one quarian, and she knows Shepard has never really thought about living among Tali’s people.

But she hopes Shepard will consider Rannoch when the time comes. She can't bear to think about it being an  _if_. 

They walk together in seclusion, moving silently across the pale desert sands of her soon-to-be home.  
  
“Where did you say you wanted to put that house, Tali?” Shepard asks, voice warm and just a bit teasing.

Tali moves ahead and waves a finger, feeling the blush hitting her cheeks and knowing, for the first time, Shepard can see it as well. It's one thing to blush in the dark lights of Shepard's cabin; another in the bright daylight of Rannoch knowing full well she can see it.

Shepard smiles, polite and sweet, as she leads her to a secluded valley, surrounded by trees.There’s an old quarian tradition on choosing one’s home; an ancient tradition, from back when their people had the liberty of choosing spaces. In the fleet, the tradition was modified, becoming a dance between a couple when they first set foot in their shared room. But in ancient times, her ancestors had been far more literal – they had walked, an arm holding on to their beloved until their feet felt the land that felt like a home.

There's a fallen log; she sits on it and pats the seat next to her. Shepard grins at her and sits, wrapping an arm around Tali’s shoulder, and Tali wonders if her girlfriend has done her homework on ancient rituals.

“So...Tell me about our house,” Shepard says casually, her cheek brushed up against Tali’s, and with that, Tali’s heart skips a beat. It's the _our_ that stuns her, that leaves her stammering with a soft _oh_ being the only thing she can utter.

Shepard looks at her, smiles like she doesn't realize the effect she’s having on her, _keelah_ , and cups her chin.

“Is it alright…?” She asks, and Tali manages to recover a bit, to nod and try to laugh, but it comes off too high and too sharp until Shepard brings her mouth to cover Tali’s in a sweet and chaste kiss. It's a pause, one that gives her time to think.

 _Ours_.

_She said ours._

When they part, Shepard runs a hand down her cheek. “It's so different,” she whispers. “Being able to see your face.”  
  
“I, uh, _keelah_ , I, ooooh!” Tali feels the blush roaring across her cheeks for a moment, but Shepard just laughs and kisses her cheek.  
  
“You're cute.” Shepard leans over, and Tali's heartbeat pulses faster.  
  
“I was thinking we'd put the kitchen on the east side, so we could wake up and see the sun rise rise every day together,” Shepard whispers, her words somehow running up her ear yet setting all of her nerve endings on fire, building up heat between her legs.  
  
“What would we need so much light for?” She whispers, as Shepard curls a finger through her hair.  
  
She smiles. “Well, would help to make sure we don't accidentally kill each other over breakfast.”  
  
Tali grins, but it's a bit of a sad gesture; she'd somehow forgotten that they'll never quite be able to break bread together. Shepard will never really get to enjoy the festival of _vir'yim_ , and it's a shame, because she'll never know how good her mother's recipe for _l'chem_ tastes, and she'll never be able to breakfast on delicious _ug'yah_ , freshly picked.  
  
But, she knows, the point is a good one, and even if they can't share the same foods, there's no reason they can't at least eat at the same table.

“Is that...” Tali asks, reaching out to rub her chin, “the only thing you can think of doing in a breakfast nook?”  
  
Shepard snorts. “I didn't say that.”  
  
“Oh? What else might we do then?” Tali thumbs her armor's lapel, a deliberate tease and, in quarian terms, an absolutely devilish one.  
  
“I'm sure you can think of a few things,” Shepard says, and her trailing hand down Tali’s side leaves her little doubt that she is on the same page.

“Hmm.” She says, swinging into her lap. “Perhaps you can give me a demonstration?”  
  
“I’ve heard that’s part of this sort of thing,” Shepard drawls as she grabs her legs. She leans in, mouth just barely grazing Shepard’s own. “Is it alright to…?” She trails off, hands still tight on her thighs but not quite where she needs Shepard.

“No.” She says, then leans in, capturing those thin, human lips in a tender if brief kiss. “But you can look after me tomorrow.”

“Before we get distracted...” Shepard looks at her, swallows. She grabs both of Tali’s hands, and murmurs a garbled and near-incomprehensible mish-mash of Khelish and standard basic human language, though Tali does understand _se_ (home) and _isht’sha_ (wife) and Tali presses a finger to Shepard’s clumsy lips.

“ _Yes,_ you bosh’tet,” she says. She squeezes Shepard close and closes her eyes. They’re not quite dancing yet, but somehow she feels the world spinning under her feet.


End file.
